Morocco Joins Arab Summit to Address Iranian Threat and Regional Challenges

The opening of the historic Negev Summit was effective this Sunday, March 27, 2022. The foreign ministers of Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt, and the United States are participating in this major meeting. On the agenda of the discussions: regional challenges and the Iranian threat weighing on the region. What about the reasons for Morocco’s participation in this summit?

Since May 1, 2018, the kingdom has broken off its relations with Iran, closed the Iranian embassy in Rabat and expelled the Iranian ambassador because of the Sahara. While Morocco proposes a Moroccan autonomy plan for the Sahara - a plan supported by many countries - Tehran is aligning itself behind the Polisario, protected by Algeria, which is demanding a self-determination referendum under the auspices of the UN. At the time, Nasser Bourita justified the severing of diplomatic relations by the fact that the pro-Iranian Hezbollah was providing weapons to the Polisario Front via the embassy in Algeria and training its militias.

Information confirmed by the Arab League, which, in a statement, mentioned "the arming by Iran of separatist elements threatening the security and stability of Morocco". "These dangerous and unacceptable practices constitute an extension of the actions of the Iranian regime aimed at undermining regional security and stability," the same source added.

Between Rabat and Tehran, relations have never been simple. In 1979, after the Islamic revolution, they deteriorated. King Hassan II had condemned the religious leaders who took power in Iran and even forced Shah Reza Pahlavi into exile. In the 1980s, relations between the two countries deteriorated considerably when Tehran recognized the self-determination referendum wanted by the Polisario Front. This break lasted until 2014.